Burnout in a customer services environment / C. Campbell

The recent worldwide shift in focus from goods production to service provision in Westerncountries has resulted in the expansion of the service sector. The front-line worker hasbecome a central figure in the new workplace, forming an important link between thecompany and the customer. The nature of the interaction between customer service staff andclients influences the perceived quality of service rendered by the company. Call centre workrequires a high degree of personal contact with the public and the performance of emotionallabour. Previous research found emotional labour to be a significant predictor of burnout.Given the above scenario, the lack of empirical research that systematically investigatesburnout in a customer services environment in South Africa is a source of concern.The objectives of this study were to determine the construct validity and internal consistencyof the Maslach Burnout Inventory - General Survey (MBI-GS) (Schaufeli, Leiter, Maslach &Jackson, 1996) in a customer services environment, and to compare the relationship ofburnout with various demographic characteristics.A cross-sectional survey design was used. The study population consisted of an accidentalsample of customer services personnel (N = 228). The Maslach Burnout Inventory - GeneralSurvey (MBI-GS) was used to determine the level of burnout in the participants. Abiographical questionnaire was used to gather additional information. Structural equationmodelling (SEM) methods as implemented by AMOS were used to test the factorial modelfor the MBI-GS. Cronbach alpha coefficients and inter-item correlation coefficients wereused to assess the internal consistency and construct validity of the MBI-GS. Descriptivestatistics were used to analyse the data. T-tests and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)were used to determine differences between the sub-groups in the sample. Tukey tests weredone to indicate which groups differed significantly when ANOVAS were done.The results confirmed a three-factor model of burnout, consisting of Exhaustion, Cynicismand Professional Efficacy. All three factors showed acceptable internal consistencies. Theresults also showed that customer service staff who measured high on exhaustion andcynicism (compared with those who measured low) experienced less job satisfaction.